Growth of Xanthorrhoea australis R.Br. in relation to fire.
Abstract
Reports studies of the growth and reproduction of X. australis at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, Canberra, and field observations at two sites (on cleared land and in Eucalypt woodland) at Tooma, New South Wales, and in a 40-year-old unburnt Pinus radiata plantation near Canberra. Plants of X. australis were resistant to fire in the early vegetative stage, because the apical meristem was buried up to 12 cm below the soil surface (apparently by the action of contractile roots). On emergence of the apex, the whole stem is protected by moist, tightly packed leaf bases. Burning, clipping, and to a smaller extent ethylene treatment, stimulated inflorescence production, resulting in twice the number of flowers, 100 days earlier, than in the controls, although these early flowers failed to become pollinated. The implications for conservation of the species are briefly discussed.